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Ghedina bidding to win again
Posted: Thursday December 16, 1999 01:29 PM
VAL GARDENA, Italy (Reuters) -- Italy's Kristian Ghedina, bidding to become the first man in 23 years to win back to back World Cup downhills at Val Gardena, was fastest in practice for the second day in a row on Thursday. Ghedina sped down Val Gardena's Saslong piste in two minutes 06.81 seconds in cold and overcast conditions. Austria's Roland Assinger was second fastest in 2:07.29 while Switzerland's Ambrosi Hoffmann was third in 2:07.79. Overall and downhill World Cup leader Hermann Maier improved from Wednesday and was joint sixth fastest in 2:08.01 while compatriot Hannes Trinkl, winner of the last downhill in Lake Louise, was ninth. Austria's Stefan Eberharter and Andreas Schifferer had disappointing runs, placing 27th and 32nd respectively. Compatriot Werner Franz, who took second and third here last year, was 36th, a full three seconds behind Ghedina. "The piste is a bit harder than yesterday. It's better, even though it's maybe a bit slower. I wanted to improve on my time from yesterday but there was bit of snow on the surface and it was slower," Ghedina said. Asked whether he could emulate Austria's Franz Klammer who won twice here in two consecutive days in 1976, Ghedina said: "I'll give it a go. It would be a great thing to achieve and a good excuse for a party on Saturday night." "My main rivals? Austria, Austria, Austria," the Italian said. "Maier, Trinkl, Fritz Strobl, Werner Franz -- there are about 45 of them!" Maier, who was 12th fastest on Wednesday, agreed with Ghedina on the improvement in the piste. "It's much better than yesterday," he said. "It's still a little soft but better than it was." "My back is much better too," said the overall and downhill World Cup leader, who was suffering from a slight injury in Val d'Isere at the weekend. "It's improving every day." Asked who he feared most in this week's races, Maier replied: "The weather." Overnight snow had threatened the practice session but the piste was cleared on Thursday morning and although the temperature was stuck at -3 degrees centigrade in mid afternoon, the snow stayed away. "They swept away the snow from the turns," Trinkl said. "The turns were a little bit faster but the flats were a little bit slower than yesterday." Norway's defending downhill champion Lasse Kjus, who won one of two races here last season and finished second behind Ghedina in the other, was still suffering from a bout of flu and pulled out of the races. Maier is top of the downhill standings after winning the season opener at Beaver Creek and finishing second at Lake Louise. Eberharter is second, Trinkl third and Ghedina fourth.
Copyright 2003 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved.
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